Its February now. Autumn feels like a long time ago. The water is SO cold now. I spent 5 weeks in Indonesia, and then went straight to Texas for Christmas for two weeks. In effect, I managed to miss all the snow chaos here in the UK and plonked myself on a nice warm beach instead. January has been pretty mild, and there has been so little swell of any significance that Ive all but given-up surfing. Almost.

Instead we have been making a couple of trips to Glenshee to slide around on the ice, and doing long cycle rides and hikes. The weather has been truly balmy by standards. Only a few days under zero, and Ive seen a few days in double figures.. in January… better get ready for Easter… ;)

Im going to try and make more effort here and post more fragments and quick snapshots from the villages and area, and in that vein find below some snaps from the 4 hours hike at the weekend – Langleeford car park – up Hedgehope – around to Cheviot – top of Cheviot and back to the car park. 10 miles and a 850m vertical climb. Lots of snow and ice. Such a good day. :)

Note; All the photos and the video were taken with my iPhone – and im so impressed with its quality ! More frequent posting via the iPhone to follow.. :)